Our flagship beer in the Humidor Series is Humidor Series India Pale Ale. We start with Jai Alai IPA as a base beer and add the cedar during secondary fermentation. The cedar provides a perfect balance with the assertive hops of Jai Alai to create an entirely new experience.

Received in a trade with NYBrews a couple moths ago, this one got lost in the back of the fridge until now. Poured into 16oz nonic. Poured over 4 inches of head on the initial pour, less than 1/8 inch of beer at the bottom. This problem would continue throughout the bottle. When there was finally enough beer to look at, the beer was a slightly hazy, very attractive orange-gold color.

The aroma was good, some malts showing through the citrusy hops. The flavors were also good, those same citrus hops on a nice malt base. Maybe I tasted a bit of cedar, or perhaps it was the power of suggestion.

The body was good, full, sharp and dry, but the finish was a bit harshly bitter. Drinkability was good, but is losing a half-point because I ended up drinking as much head as I did beer. Overall a pretty nice brew, almost a must try. You should give it a shot if you see it, and it's probably worth setting up a trade for.

Cigar City Humidor IPAPoured from a bottle into a glassA: Brown, with a decent head that takes a while to fade.S: Fruity, Grapefruit, lemon, some pine and hop notes very complex. T: Fruity, the hops are not as front forward as they could be.M: Some hops but you can taste the barrel aged part of this beer. Complex, reminiscent of liquor.O: good for an IPA, I wouldn’t buy it again mostly because it’s expensive but certainly a good full bodied beer.

Reviewing the Humidor Series Cedar-Aged Jai Alai IPA from Cigar City Brewing out of Tampa Bay, Florida.Score: 88

Bottle is from November 2011. Served in a snifter glass and enjoyed on 06/23/12 at the inaugural Chicago craft beer lovers meeting.

Appearance: Hazy/murky golden orange color with minimal head and lacing. It is a little hard to discern much "appearance" from my pour size on this one, but nothing really stood out to me about the color. 3.5/5

Smell: Huge waves of cigar box cedar hit upfront. I love the smell of cedar, so this was quite awesome. Behind the cedar is malty orange, pepper and a little onion. Pineapple with a hint of hops too. 4/5

Taste: Bring on the cigars! This beer tastes like you are standing inside a humidor! Though the hops are almost entirely faded here, left behind is a residual bitterness and oily blend of peppery cedar flavor and malty orange citrus. Easy drinking. 4/5

Overall: I was not going to review this when I saw the bottle date, but then I found that I surprisingly enjoyed this stale IPA. I will be seeking out a fresh bottle of this upon its next release in a couple of weeks. Yum!

Barrel aging IPAs can be a very dangerous thing in my opinion. So much risk of obliterating character and just wrecking the ship. This one works for me. There are the IPA tones that area clear and evident with the barrel influences that combine to provide a nice drinking experience. It's a little boozy at times, but it works for me. P.S. Mild gusher here and a whole lotta head too.

In spite of a slight geyser upon opening (okay, it was a massive geyser), this beer pours with a manageable head, ivory colored and stable atop a hazed cinnamon-orange body. Kinda like a hefeweizen. Kinda.

The aroma is gorgeous. Full disclosure: the smell of cedar makes me very nostalgic as it reminds me of the time I spent in Japan, and my favorite beer is Hitachino Nest JCA, also aged in cedar. This smells like that – but ramped up a notch or two. Full on peppery cedar dominates, almost to the exclusion of all other aromas, but they're there: guava, cinnamon, lime, dulce de leche, bitter otange, coriander... I could go on, but I'll just stop there and say that it's lovely.

The flavor is more cedary spice, lots of wholegrain toast spread with dark honey, apple pie, resinous bitterness, and clove. There seems to be a touch of tannins here as well, giving this a slightly tea-like edge. Soft carbonation leads into a dry finish with a lingering woody bitterness.

My initial impression was alot of grapefruit flavor with a background of pepper and spice. As the beer warmed the cedar and tobacco really begin to come out.

Carbonation wasn't overwhelming and mouthfeel overall was fairly light for a beer with this much flavor.

Overall, one of the most unique and interesting beers I've had in a while. Not something I would drink on a regular basis but a good one to throw in the rotation when you are looking for something different.